Hal Gardner
Thoughts of his past life come to the forefront of his mind. Walks with Jess on the beach, holding her hand in his and being amazed that anyone who worked so hard to feed her family and make clothing for them could have hands that soft. Softness he can’t remember, but the amazement at her qualities he can. Hal’s mind wanders to their son James. He was seven and Hal had started to show him how to fish and make fires that would last longer than ten minutes. Hal had carved an animal out of wood for him, the name of the animal Hal hadn’t known but he had seen it in a book long ago and thought the main of hair around its head made it look noble. He could see James running around with the wooden animal making all sort of noise. Hal found himself smiling and then the first explosion went off in the court yard in front of him and he was brought back to reality.
The violent chaos that had just erupted from the silent night lit the Tombstone with firelight and gunfire flashes. ‘Is this real’ Hal thought for the briefest of moments, imagining his life two weeks ago where he was fishing with his friend Arthur. Back then he had a family, and life was simple. He had never been in a fight, or killed a man for that matter. Even knowing the events that led Hal to this midnight battle with the MPD, he still couldn’t believe it. Hal pulled the trigger of the rifle. This was the first time he had ever aimed a gun at another person and he was aiming to kill.
Hal is back with Arthur on the edge of the lake. Arthur pulls on his rod, his line has gone tense and neither of them had caught a fish all day. Hal rarely actually caught fish, but he enjoyed the effort and the time spent conversing with Arthur swapping war stories of their home lives. Whose wife could be more frustrating or demanding, something Hal would give anything to be able to complain about again now.
His first shot misses, but alerts the four guards he was aiming at to his presence. They all turn and look around, luckily for Hal, not able to figure out where the gun fire is coming from. This is good enough for the cause, distracting them like this will at least allow Nolan and Oren to sneak past them, hopefully. An explosion of red bursts from the chest of one of the MPD guards, Hobson is a better shot than Hal. The men pivot away from Hal and look towards Hobson, who is a few building east of Hal. As they start to point towards Hobson, Hal readies his second shot. He aims at the guard who is gesturing in Hobson’s direction. Hal breaths slowly and remembers a tip he got on how to shoot from Hobson. This time he squeezes the trigger.
As the bullet exits the barrel Hal remembers returning home from fishing with Arthur to find his village in ruins and fire engulfing everything he knew. The Horsemen had come to his home and were leaving nothing behind. He could hear gun shots in the distance, and suddenly Arthur falling beside him, a whole had appeared in his neck. Hal reached to him and a bullet grazed his arm. He fell too, mostly out of fear. Hal remembered the feeling he had. Like someone had flipped a switch and his world had changed. It was no longer quiet or peaceful or happy, his family was gone, his friends were dead, his role in life had been taken from him and he didn’t even know it was happening until it was done and he was someone new. He was a wandered now, scavenging what little he could from whatever was left on the road he traveled. Hal the father, Hal the husband, Hal the godfather, Hal the friend, Hal the fishing partner they were all gone. Now he was just Hal the wandered, Hal the scavenger, Hal the lonely, and Hal the lost.
The second shot connects, laying a man to the ground next to his fallen brother. ‘Have I killed someone else?’ Hal thinks anxiously. Could he live with himself having killed another man? He stared at the men, wondering how effective his bullet had been. The guard Hal had just shot slowly reaches an arm out to the pavement around him and turns himself onto his back, and starts to drag himself toward the entrance to the Tombstone.
Bullets start to fly pass Hal’s head. He looks towards the tower off in the distance and sees sporadic flashes of light. A bullet hits some of the rubble in front of him and debris hits him in the face. Without warning an explosion goes off from just east of the tower and all hell breaks loose. Hal sees twice as many guards scattering through the grounds of the Tombstone and the gun shots coming from the tower double in pace. A swarm of the guards are running toward Hal and Hobson. ‘Well the second explosion means they must be out’ Hal tries to convince himself as he grabs his rifle and turns to escape. ‘I’m sure Nolan and Oren made it out fine on the other side’. Without looking back at the Tombstone or the approaching MPD Hal takes off at full speed, sure that he has done enough.
Hal sees Arthur laying a few feet from him, his mouthing soundlessly miming words Hal can’t quite understand. He hears another gun shot and stares into Arthur’s eyes. Arthur reaches for Hal, but Hal doesn’t return the gesture. Instead crouching and turning away, Hal starts to run, never looking back. Hal the weak, Hal the friendless, Hal runner or Hal the coward. All Hal thinks as he runs from Arthur, from the Tombstone, from the memories that were his life is he wishes he were Hal the dead, but is too cowardly to stay.
Thoughts of his past life come to the forefront of his mind. Walks with Jess on the beach, holding her hand in his and being amazed that anyone who worked so hard to feed her family and make clothing for them could have hands that soft. Softness he can’t remember, but the amazement at her qualities he can. Hal’s mind wanders to their son James. He was seven and Hal had started to show him how to fish and make fires that would last longer than ten minutes. Hal had carved an animal out of wood for him, the name of the animal Hal hadn’t known but he had seen it in a book long ago and thought the main of hair around its head made it look noble. He could see James running around with the wooden animal making all sort of noise. Hal found himself smiling and then the first explosion went off in the court yard in front of him and he was brought back to reality.
The violent chaos that had just erupted from the silent night lit the Tombstone with firelight and gunfire flashes. ‘Is this real’ Hal thought for the briefest of moments, imagining his life two weeks ago where he was fishing with his friend Arthur. Back then he had a family, and life was simple. He had never been in a fight, or killed a man for that matter. Even knowing the events that led Hal to this midnight battle with the MPD, he still couldn’t believe it. Hal pulled the trigger of the rifle. This was the first time he had ever aimed a gun at another person and he was aiming to kill.
Hal is back with Arthur on the edge of the lake. Arthur pulls on his rod, his line has gone tense and neither of them had caught a fish all day. Hal rarely actually caught fish, but he enjoyed the effort and the time spent conversing with Arthur swapping war stories of their home lives. Whose wife could be more frustrating or demanding, something Hal would give anything to be able to complain about again now.
His first shot misses, but alerts the four guards he was aiming at to his presence. They all turn and look around, luckily for Hal, not able to figure out where the gun fire is coming from. This is good enough for the cause, distracting them like this will at least allow Nolan and Oren to sneak past them, hopefully. An explosion of red bursts from the chest of one of the MPD guards, Hobson is a better shot than Hal. The men pivot away from Hal and look towards Hobson, who is a few building east of Hal. As they start to point towards Hobson, Hal readies his second shot. He aims at the guard who is gesturing in Hobson’s direction. Hal breaths slowly and remembers a tip he got on how to shoot from Hobson. This time he squeezes the trigger.
As the bullet exits the barrel Hal remembers returning home from fishing with Arthur to find his village in ruins and fire engulfing everything he knew. The Horsemen had come to his home and were leaving nothing behind. He could hear gun shots in the distance, and suddenly Arthur falling beside him, a whole had appeared in his neck. Hal reached to him and a bullet grazed his arm. He fell too, mostly out of fear. Hal remembered the feeling he had. Like someone had flipped a switch and his world had changed. It was no longer quiet or peaceful or happy, his family was gone, his friends were dead, his role in life had been taken from him and he didn’t even know it was happening until it was done and he was someone new. He was a wandered now, scavenging what little he could from whatever was left on the road he traveled. Hal the father, Hal the husband, Hal the godfather, Hal the friend, Hal the fishing partner they were all gone. Now he was just Hal the wandered, Hal the scavenger, Hal the lonely, and Hal the lost.
The second shot connects, laying a man to the ground next to his fallen brother. ‘Have I killed someone else?’ Hal thinks anxiously. Could he live with himself having killed another man? He stared at the men, wondering how effective his bullet had been. The guard Hal had just shot slowly reaches an arm out to the pavement around him and turns himself onto his back, and starts to drag himself toward the entrance to the Tombstone.
Bullets start to fly pass Hal’s head. He looks towards the tower off in the distance and sees sporadic flashes of light. A bullet hits some of the rubble in front of him and debris hits him in the face. Without warning an explosion goes off from just east of the tower and all hell breaks loose. Hal sees twice as many guards scattering through the grounds of the Tombstone and the gun shots coming from the tower double in pace. A swarm of the guards are running toward Hal and Hobson. ‘Well the second explosion means they must be out’ Hal tries to convince himself as he grabs his rifle and turns to escape. ‘I’m sure Nolan and Oren made it out fine on the other side’. Without looking back at the Tombstone or the approaching MPD Hal takes off at full speed, sure that he has done enough.
Hal sees Arthur laying a few feet from him, his mouthing soundlessly miming words Hal can’t quite understand. He hears another gun shot and stares into Arthur’s eyes. Arthur reaches for Hal, but Hal doesn’t return the gesture. Instead crouching and turning away, Hal starts to run, never looking back. Hal the weak, Hal the friendless, Hal runner or Hal the coward. All Hal thinks as he runs from Arthur, from the Tombstone, from the memories that were his life is he wishes he were Hal the dead, but is too cowardly to stay.